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5 undefeated teams remain as we head into week 4 of the NFL season. I went 9-7 a week ago, bringing my season total to 26-22.

Bye Week: Philadelphia and Green Bay

Thursday Night Football

Dolphins @ Bengals: Miami barely squeaked by the Browns last week, while the Bengals were beat down by the defending champs at home. The Dolphins got a big day from Jarvis Landry, but inconsistency continues to plague Ryan Tannehill, who threw a pick six in the win. Cincinnati got their running game going, but still lost to 1-2 for the first time in five years. After two very good weeks, Andy Dalton couldn’t do much against the Broncos defense. I like the Bengals at home with another good rushing game to get their second win of the season. CINCINNATI WINS

Sunday Morning Football

Colts @ Jaguars: London here they come! Indianapolis got their first win of the season last week, while Jacksonville is still looking for theirs. Andrew Luck has the uncanny ability to turn a bad day into a big day passing the ball, but the Jaguars defense isn’t the problem so far, so he’ll need help. Blake Bortles on the other hand, has been pretty awful for Jacksonville in his third year under center. So what happens this weekend across the pond? Give me a cleaner day from Luck to lift the Colts. INDIANAPOLIS WINS

Sunday 1PM Games

Bills @ Patriots: Three different quarterbacks have started for New England, but that hasn’t stopped the winning. And as for the Bills, they got their first win over a team many think, myself included, are a playoff team destined for a deep run. Both teams got big two-touchdown games out of their number 1 running backs, so look for another day of running the clock. The Patriots have to get through one more week without Tom Brady, and while they’ve done a great job doing so, and are very, very good at home, I’m taking the road team in this one. BUFFALO WINS

Titans @ Texans: It was a very bad week for Houston, who not only lost their Thursday game versus New England 27-0, they learned that JJ Watt re-injured his back and will be out the rest of the year. Tennessee’s week wasn’t much better, as they scored just 10 points in their loss to Oakland. Both teams enter action having scored the same amount of points through 3 games, but of course that’s skewed with the Texans O-fer last weekend. Marcus Mariota and Brock Osweiler have both thrown 4 interceptions so far this season, so whoever can limit mistakes has the edge. A Titans win puts them in a tie for the division early. But I don’t think they get it, because I like the Texans skill position players better. HOUSTON WINS

Lions @ Bears: The Lions are 1-2, but haven’t struggled in the passing game, as Matthew Stafford has found a new weapon in Marvin Jones after Calvin Johnson called it a career in the off-season. The silver lining there for the 0-3 Bears is that their defense has actually done okay against the pass so far this season. Chicago got a pretty good game out of Brandon Hoyer, who finished 30-49 for 317 yards, though most of that came with the game out of hand already. Both teams have the ability to get the points in the air, and with two middling defenses, that shouldn’t be a problem. So this game will be won in the trenches, and the edge there lies with the Lions. DETROIT WINS

Panthers @ Falcons: Carolina is another team I thought would have a great season, but has disappointed so far. Thanks to the struggles of the Panthers and the rest of the NFC South, Atlanta finds themself atop the division early on in the season. This dispite allowing 31, 28 and 32 points in their first three games. The Falcons may not be getting sustained success in their ground game early, they are getting it when it counts. Tevin Coleman has just 110 yards on the ground, but has 4 rushing touchdowns, including 3 on Sunday in New Orleans. Carolina entered action red-hot at home dating back to 2014, but we shut down by a red-hot Vikings defense a week ago. I still believe in the Panthers defense, and as hot as Atlanta has been, I think Carolina gets the win on the road.CAROLINA WINS

Seahawks @ Jets: The good news for Jets fans? Ryan Fitzpatrick can only be better than he was a week ago. The bad news? He has to be a lot better against the top defense in the league. After scoring just 3 points against L.A. in week 2, the Seahawks exercised some demons putting up 37 against the Niners. Russell Wilson was hobbled in the game, but still managed to leave with a nice lead. Big games from Christine Michael and Doug Baldwin helped get the offense back on track. New York can solace in the fact that they have had a pretty good run game all season, and while some of it came in garbage time, Seattle did allow the Niners to get over 130 yards on the ground, finding pay dirt twice. This shouldnt be as ugly for the Jets as it was last week, but it will still be a loss. SEATTLE WINS

Raiders @ Ravens: Baltimore finds itself among the undefeated teams heading into week 4, in large part thanks to their defense and a good day from kicker Justin Tucker. The Ravens are second in total defense through 3 weeks of play. Their opponents won their 2nd game by forcing three turnovers, with a sack after entering week 3 having allowed the Saints and Falcons to walk all over them. So based on defenses, Baltimore should have an easy win. But I actually like Oakland’s offense a lot more, and as someone who thinks this is a playoff team, I’ll take the Raiders in the upset. OAKLAND WINS

Browns @ Redskins: Cleveland should’ve gotten their first win of the season in Miami a week ago, but an inability to stop the air attack, and three missed field goals left them at 0-3. They gave themselves a shot, but couldn’t take it. Cody Kessler’s first career start wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t very good for Cleveland, though at this point, coming out healthy is huge for the Browns. Washington did get their first win, taking down the Giants on the road. After a couple lackluster offensive weeks, Kirk Cousins let it loose and got a number of big plays in the passing game to help get that first win and move back in the right direction to defend their NFC East title. So can the Browns get their first win this week? Yes. Will they? I don’t think so. They stayed in last week thanks to mistakes by Tannehill, but Cousins won’t make those same mistakes. WASHINGTON WINS

Sunday 4/425PM Games

Broncos @ Buccaneers: The Superbowl Champs are showing no signs of slowing down as they look to start the season 4-0. Denver got off to a slow start last week against the Bengals, but came on strong late thanks to a big day from rookie quarterback Trevor Siemian. Siemian threw four touchdown passes, including two in the fourth quarter for the win. Not to be outdone, the Broncos are a top flight defense that held down Andy Dalton and their rushing attack. They’ve got another tough test when they take on Jameis Winston this weekend. The Bucs 2nd year quarterback is tied for the league lead in touchdown passes so far with 8, though he has thrown six picks to. It won’t be a blowout, none of Denver’s games really have been, but it will be another win for the Broncos. DENVER WINS

Rams @ Cardinals: I’m shocked at the start the Cardinals are having at just 1-2. Carson Palmer has had a bad TD-turnover ratio through 3 weeks. Arizona isn’t getting quite out of David Johnson on the ground, while their defense is allowing the 5th most rushing yards per game. This is as good a week as any to get back to what they want to do in all phases as they take on their division rival Rams, who find themselves tied atop the division at 2-1. Los Angeles has rebounded nicely from a shutout on opening day, winning their last two games. The Rams tend to play up or down to their opponents, evident by a 9-3 home win over Seattle and a 37-32 shootout on the road in Tampa Bay. Going off those results, I’ll take the Cardinals at home in what should be a close game throughout between these two West foes. ARIZONA WINS

Cowboys @ Niners: Dallas couldn’t have asked for more from rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot through three weeks. The Tony Romo-less Cowboys were a game-winning field-goal away from being 3-0 right now. Dez Bryant has a hairline fracture in his knee but is still expected to play this weekend. San Francisco was manhandled in week 3, and still isn’t making a change back to Colin Kaepernick. The biggest thing the Niners have going for them is Carlos Hyde has looked pretty good. I like what the Caowboys have done this season, but I have a feeling about San Fran this week. It might be a bad feeling, but I’m rolling with it.SAN FRANCISCO WINS

Saints @ Chargers: It’s still early, but the Saints need to start picking up some wins quickly if they want to make the playoffs as I predicted they would as a wildcard team in the NFC. The offense hasn’t been the problem. Drew Brees is already over a 1,000 yards passing, with an 8-1 touchdown to interception ratio, though that one interception last week was a fourth quarter pick six for Brees. New Orleans defense hasn’t been been able to stop anyone, as they’ve allowed the 2nd most total yards. Worst at stopping the run, that’s where the Chargers will need to take advantage this week. But without Danny Woodhead, San Diego needs Melvin Gordon to get going, so this is the perfect opportunity for that. I like Philip Rivers, but I like Drew Brees more. Give me the road team to get win number 1 this week. NEW ORLEANS WINS

Sunday Night Football

Chiefs @ Steelers: What a defensive performance put on by the Chiefs this past week! Two defensive touchdowns and six interceptions helped Kansas City get the easy win over the Jets. The offense wasn’t great, but they didn’t need to be with that showing on defense. Alex Smith continued to show his game management skills, and why Travis Kelce is one of the better tight ends in the league right now. They’ve got a desperate Steelers team thsi week, who didn’t score a touchdown in a week 3 beatdown by the Eagles. After two very good weeks, DeAngelo Williams was stymied on the ground, so the rushing attack will gladly welcome back Le’Veon Bell from suspension this week. The biggest test for the Kansas City defense will be stopping Antonio Brown, but I don’t think it will matter much even if he does have a big day. KANSAS CITY WINS

Monday Night Football

Giants @ Vikings: This should be a battle of two unbeatens, but a late game collapse left the Giants at 2-1 heading into today. Too many penalties, a couple late turnovers and allowing Washington to open up the field multiple times led to the home loss for New York. They lost Shane Vereen to a triceps injury as well. Eli Manning and company need to do more in the passing game, and they have the capability with three wide receivers. The bad news for New York is that the Vikings are running on all cylinders right now. Their defense has been relentless through three weeks, and despite losing starting QB Teddy Bridgewater before the season started, the offense has been very good. Sam Bradford has come in and fit in better in two weeks then he’s done in the first few seasons of his career. It’s going to be tough for the Giants on the road, but I like New York will figure things out and get back in the win column. NEW YORK WINS

We’ve reached week 3 of the season, and still have 8 undefeated and 8 winless teams. There have also been a lot of big injuries early that will have a big impact on week 3 and beyond. As for my picks, I’m 18-14 through 2 weeks. Here’s what I’m thinking going into week 3.

Thursday Night Football

Texans @ Patriots: Jimmy Garoppolo left with a shoulder injury for New England, who still managed to move to 2-0. This was thanks in large part to Garoppolo’s 3 touchdown passes before his injury as well as a big performance from LeGarrett Blount in the run game. The Texans took down the Chiefs on the strength of their defense to move to 1-1, a stark difference from their 33-0 loss to Kansas City in the playoffs. Without Garoppolo, I think the Texans will do enough to get another win to start off the week 3 action. HOUSTON WINS

Sunday 1pm Games

Ravens @ Jaguars: Baltimore got very lucky in week 2, as they overcame a 20-0 1st quarter deficit to improve to 2-0. Cleveland never scored again, while Joe Flacco brought his team back with a 25-45, 302 yard performance. Their opponents have been disappointing to me so far. While I didn’t think the Jaguars were going to make the playoffs this season, I thought they’d be better than they’ve shown, starting 0-2 again after They crossed midfield only six times and committed three turnovers. BALTIMORE WINS

Lions @ Packers: Both teams enter 1-1 after losing in week 2, and are looking to keep pace with the 2-0 Vikings. The Packers lost their game in the 4th quarter, turning the ball over twice, while allowing Rodgers to be sacked 5 times. Detroit also lost their game in the 4th quarter when they were outscored 13-0 by the Titans, including a 93-yard game winning drive. The Lions didn’t have a go to back in week 2, losing Ameer Abdullah to an injury. So who gets back in the win column this week? I’ll take the Packers at home with a much-needed big day from Eddie Lacy. GREEN BAY WINS

Redskins @ Giants: Washington won the NFC East a year ago, but have opened up this season 0-2. Struggles in the red zone and an inability to force turnovers meant a loss in a back-and-forth affair with Dallas last week. New York’s offense moved up and down the field pretty easily on Sunday, but also struggled in the redzone, and had too many turnovers in the 1st half. But the defense and special teams stepped up and they moved to 2-0. So who takes this division matchup? Give me the home team to get over their redzone struggles and take advantage of Eli Manning’s league leading completion percentage, which should be even better as the Giants receiving core dropped at least 5 balls in week 2. NEW YORK WINS

Browns @ Dolphins: For the 5th week in a row (dating back to last season), Cleveland will be starting a different QB. Someone should tell them this isn’t baseball, there’s no starting rotation in football. Even with the QB carousel, the Browns almost, and should have, pulled out their first win in week 2. They were up 20-2 on the Ravens, thanks in big part to their ground attack, but fell late. Miami isn’t in any better a position than their week 3 opponents, as they enter action at 0-2 as well. The Dolphins were down big early to the Pats, but made a comeback after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with an injury. Cleveland will be in this game until the end because Miami has had issues stopping the run early. But even of Isaiah Crowell goes big on the ground, I still think they pull out the win at home. MIAMI WINS

Vikings @ Panthers: Minnesota will now be without their starting QB and running back for the rest of the season after Adrian Peterson went down in their game on Sunday night. The Vikings defense looked stong against Aaron Rogers in week 2. As for Carolina, they rebounded offensively in week 2, but they still struggled a bit on defense, allowing the Niners to score 27. They’ll be without their running back Jonathan Stewart, but were picked up by Fozzy Whittaker on the ground. Despite the 27 points allowed, I like the Panthers chances of stopping Sam Bradford and the new Vikings weapon and league receiving yards leader Stefon Diggs. CAROLINA WINS

Broncos @ Bengals: Andy Dalton has gotten off to a nice start this season, leading the league with 732 passing yards, so here’s a good test for the Broncos league leading defense. CJ Anderson is having a good start to the season, and we’ve seen the Bengals give up the most rushing yards per game to start the season, so he should be able to help eat a lot of clock for Denver. DENVER WINS

Cardinals @ Bills: Arizona rebounded from a tough week 1 loss by handily beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Cardinals led the league in total offense, while the Bills dropped to 0-2 despite putting up 31 points of their own in week 2. Buffalo has let their offensive coordinator go, so they really need this game. Too bad I don’t think they’ll get it. Look for a big game from running back Daniel Johnson. ARIZONA WINS

Raiders @ Titans: Oakland has not been able to stop anyone through two weeks, something I wasn’t expecting, allowing 70 points so far. Tennessee has actually done a very nice job on defense. Both teams are 1-1 heading into this game, but I still like the Raiders better. The Titans offense hasn’t shown the big play ability the Raiders have, so Oakland should be able to hold them down better than they did with New Orleans and Atlanta. OAKLAND WINS

Sunday 4/425pm Games

Rams @ Buccaneers: LA’s defense showed up in week 2, Tampa’s did not. The difference between these two teams is the offense. While the Bucs went from scoring 4 TDs to 1, I feel more confident about their offense than the Rams, who have scored just 9 points in two games. The best chance the Rams have is if their defense can do what it did a week ago, and good game out of Todd Gurley. That being said, I’ll take the home team in this one. TAMPA BAY WINS

49ers @ Seahawks: This is a big (albeit early) NFC West battle between two 1-1 teams. San Francisco followed up a surprise week 1 win with a defensive breakdown against Carolina. Seattle had one of their worst offensive games in this recent stretch of Superbowl quality teams, scoring just a field goal against the L.A. Rams. I can’t see the Seahawks being held down again, especially by the Niners. Russell Wilson should be able to dominate in this one. SEATTLE WINS

Steelers @ Eagles: I never thought this would be a game where both teams have a chance to move to 3-0, but here we are. DeAngelo Williams has been huge for Pittsbrgh in the abscense of Le’Veon Bell, who is out one more week due to suspension. Philadelphia has gotten about as good as you can ever hope to from a rookie quarterback in Carson Wentz, who hasn’t turned the ball over yet. It should be a good game, but I will go with the experience in this one.PITTSBURGH WINS

Jets @ Chiefs: Two teams I picked to make the playoffs in the AFC face off in Kansas City this weekend. New York picked up their first win last week, thanks to the offense. Off-season acquisition Matt Forte finished with 100 yards rushing, and three rushing touchdowns. Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall both finished with 100 receiving yards as well. The Jets defense wasn’t as impressive as it was week 1. The Chiefs hope that’s the case again this week, as they couldn’t get much of anything started against Houston. A lot went right for New York last week, and I can’t see them doing quite that well against Kansas City’s defense as they did against Buffalo. If this were a home game for the Jets I might choose differently, but it’s a home game for the Chiefs, so I’ll go with them this week. KANSAS CITY WINS

Chargers @ Colts: San Diego is 2-0, Indianapolis is 0-2. I really thought that the Colts would be able to do better than they have on defense, but they haven’t. San Diego has looked very good on offense to start this season, Indy has been very up and down. INDIANAPOLIS WINS

Sunday Night Football

Bears @ Cowboys: Chicago is 0-2 despite holding early leads in both week 1 and week 2. And now they’ll be without starting quarterback Jay Cutler due to a thumb injury. Their best hope to beat the Cowboys is to continue limiting the passing game, as the Bears rank 4th in the NFL allowing 224 yards a game. As for Dallas, they picked up their first win thanks to another clean day from Dak Prescott and a big night on the ground. The Boys were already a better team than the Bears before the Cutler injury, so give me Dallas at home to move to 2-1. DALLAS WINS

Monday Night Football

Falcons @ Saints: Atlanta picked up their first win against an impressive Raiders team in week 2, while New Orleans dropped to 0-2 after a game winning field goal by the Giants. Atlanta hasn’t had any problems scoring this season, but their defense has struggled at times. New Orleans’ defense was much better in week 2, forcing 3 turnovers, but it wasn’t enough. I picked the Saints to make the playoffs, so this is a huge game for them. If they want to get their first win, they have to figure out how to run the ball. The Falcons tend to be very inconsistent, so give me New Orleans at home in a shootout. NEW ORLEANS WINS

This team might be weirder than last years when the left side of the infield was a rotating door of players.

With 4/5 of the opening day starting rotation down and out, and ll the money spent on bats this off-season (Ellsbury, Beltran, McCann, re-signing Gardner), you’d think the offense would be carrying the pitching. Nope. Both facets of the team are in the middle of the pack across the league, but the Yankees lose a lot of low scoring games, and failure with RISP, along with poor defense, have hurt the pitching staff.

Mark Teixeira continues to come up small injuries that keep him out of the lineup, Carlos Beltran is just now starting to heat up, and Brian McCann still hasn’t. The inconsistency is keeping this team around the .500 mark, but they remain in the hunt for October because of parody in the American League East. The top of the order has been solid of late, with the hot month courtesy of Gardner, and a good month by All-Star Derek Jeter. Jeter made his presence felt in the MLB All-Star game, an American League win, when he scored the 1st run of the game. Jeter also moved into sole possession of 7th on the All-Time Hits list, and he’s just single digits from 6th, where he will most likely finish his career.

MLB TRADE DEADLINE MOVES

SS/2B Stephen Drew for Kelly Johnson

It took nearly 40 years, but the Red Sox and Yankees finally made a trade. Sure it was the equivalent of trading two 5-dollar bills for a 10… but progress is progress. Kelly Johnson wasn’t the guy the bombers thought they were getting, a good defensive utility player with pop. Instead they got a bad defensive player with very little pop. Stephen Drew could have been a Yankee in the off-season, instead he brings his even worse batting average, yet better glove to help sure up the infield defense in the deadline trade.

Martin Prado for Prospect Pete O’Brien from Arizona

Prado bring versatility with the ability to play the infield and the corner outfield positions, a solid bat and a healthier veteran option who is in, not past, his prime. He’s signed for two more years after this.

Brian Roberts & Alfonso Soriano Designated For Assignment

Roberts stayed healthy, something he’s been known not to do, but didn’t produce, something new for the veteran 2nd baseman. And to make matters worse for Roberts, the Yankees held him out a couple games, keeping him from hitting the 350 plate-appearance mark, which would’ve bumped up his salary. The DFA came to make room on the 25-man roster for Prado. Soriano was let go earlier after a 2&1/2 month slump to start the season. He was hot in the 2nd half of last season after being acquired from the Cubs, but his age caught up with him at the plate and in the field.

Esmil Rogers Claimed Off Waivers from Toronto

The back end of the Yankees bullpen has been a strength, and in an 11th hour move, Brian Cashman finished off his moves adding another arm to the over-worked pen. Rogers hasn’t been good this season for the Blue Jays, but maybe the change will do some good.

Two veteran starters and a sure-handed 3rd baseman started off the month of moves for the Yankees. All three have contributed in their short time, McCarthy is undefeated, Capuano had a very good first outing (a no decision) and Headley had a walk-off single in his first game.

The best part of the moves GM Brian Cashman made? Not giving up big prospects or adding too much money to the payroll. The only significant loss was Yangervius Solarte in the Headly trade.

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Best Starter(s): David Phelps & Brandon McCarthy – or two guys not in the opening day rotation. Phelps went 2-1 with a sub 3 ERA in July, proving my point about the lack of run support. He quickly shot up to the team’s number 2 behind Kuroda after all the injuries to the staff, and Phelps has not disappointed. And talk about needing a change of scenery! Brandon McCarthy had a near 5 ERA in the National League before being traded for by the Yankees. He’s 3-0 (could be 4-0), has given length and brought stability to the rotation. I’m not totally surprised despite a couple poor seasons, because he’d had a number of very good years in Oakland before moving to the NL.

Best Hitter: Brett Gardner – the guy is HOT! 7 homers in the month (a shortened month thanks to the All-Star break), which is one short of his previous career high for a season, which he set last year! A team high 16 RBIs to go along with the 7 bombs in July have him just 5 short of tying his career high in that category as well, also set last season. He’s doing everything you’d want fro ma lead off hitter, and with his recent power surge, the stolen bases are down, while strikeouts are up. But in a consistently inconsistent offense, Gardenr has been a true bright spot.

June saw the New York Yankees win just two of their eight series (sweeps of the Mariners and Blue Jays), while squandering great opportunities to win more than that. We’re exactly halfway through another season, and there are still many questions about this team, especially after a very bad month.

But the Ace of the staff isn’t one of them. Masahiro Tanaka is a winner, plain and simple. The rest of the rotation has been pretty solid as well, though it’s starting to taper off here as we begin July. Not to mention how good the bullpen has been. Another plus is that there haven’t really been new additions to the injury report this month. Mark Teixeira made his return on June 3rd against the Athletics. He drove in 2 runs, including a go-ahead solo homer batting right-handed. It looked like hitting from the left side would remain an issue, but as the month went on, the wrist became a non-issue.

With all that being said, this team is so inconsistent, particularly the offense. Teixeira is the only power threat, Jacoby Ellsbury seems to have two hot weeks, followed by two very cold weeks and Brian McCann hasn’t really shown up yet. This team needs more from their off-season acquisitions. Derek Jeter has been on and off, and the same can be said for Brett Gardner. This team needs Gardner and Ellsbury on base to utilize their speed. They can make things happen, small-ball is just as, if not more important as the ability to get that 3-run home run.

Best Starter: Masahiro Tanaka – He’s going to win this thing every month because he could be the CY Young award winner in the American League this year. At 11-3, Tanaka continues to strike out double-digit batters with ease. Losing streaks with this guy in the rotation won’t go past 4 very often. Look for him to start possibly start the All-Star game. He’d be closer to 13-14 wins right now if not for the low run-support he’s been given.

Best Reliever: Dellin Betances – May clearly wasn’t an anomaly. Betances continues to strike out opponents in 3 or 4 pitches, which allows him to go two innings, AND still be available the next day. He’s confident, yet humble and cool under pressure. Like I said last month, this is Rivera in 96 type stuff. He looked a bit shaky late in the month, but found ways to get out of jams, and that’s all you can ask of a guy.

Best Hitter: Mark Teixeira. His batting average is hovering around .240 again, but he’s the Yankees only real power source, and almost every big hit this month came from via the switch-hitter. If only he’d finally figure out how to hit against the shift.

Biggest Surprise: Chase Whitley. Another month of solid performances and I probably can’t call him a surprise anymore. He’s doing everything you’d want out of a 4th-5th starter. He’s giving the Yankees decent length, and he’s staying away from the big innings (for the most part).

Record vs AL East: 6-7

Overall Record: 41-40

The American League East will be a fight for a while, with no one looking like they want to run away with it. The Blue Jays came back down to earth a bit here. But if the Yankees continue to do what they’ve done, while getting healthy and guys like McCann slowly coming around, things could be worse in the Bronx.

With that being said, as we approach the All-Star break, the question becomes what do the Yankees need and should they make a splash before the trade deadline?

It feels like another Yankee is placed on the disabled list every day. New additions this month included Shawn Kelley, Carlos Beltran and CC Sabathia. These are names this team can go very long without. Kelley hit the shelf with a strained lumbar spine (back tightness). Just when he was looking ready to come back, the tightness resurfaced to make it more than a 15-day loss. Sabathia hasn’t looked good all year, and has been diagnosed with degenerative knees. He’ll be out until at least July because of it. Beltran was given 2 weeks to work out discomfort from a bone spur on his elbow. At the end of those 2 weeks, season ending surgery could be necessary.

After the injuries to key players, there is real concern with the lack of power in this offense. Tex, Beltran and Alfonso Soriano are the only real power threats, but Soriano has been in a season long slump and of course Tex and Beltran have missed significant time. And without the power, you need guys like Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner to get on base and make things happen. When they get on, they usually steal. But after the final week of the month, Ellsbury’s hot April had turned into a big time slump. A nice surprise has been the hitting of Yangervis Solarte, but even he has hit a skid, something we all saw coming for the 26-year-old rookie. Brian McCann needs to start hitting for this team. His adjustment time is over. Two months are enough for the all-star catcher. Interestingly enough, Ichiro Suzuki is hitting at the clip of how his career has gone, over .300. This is a guy that was supposed to be a 4th outfielder, pinch runner. But injuries have created situations for the sure-fire Hall-of-Famer and he’s doing his best to help in the field, at the plate and on the base paths.

It was a very up-and-down month for the bombers. They showed something winning 2-0f-3 on the road against the great pitching staff of the St. Louis Cardinals. But they were also held to less than 2 runs 8 times (1 win). To be fair, they only lost 2 of the 9 series (3 splits).

Best Starter: Masahiro Tanaka – He takes the award again, and not by default. The MLB rookie continues to dominate. He dropped his first game (and it wasn’t a horrible start) and bounced back with two huge performances to move his record to a stellar 8-1 before June. His ability to go deep on top of his great pitching has helped stopped long losing streaks, and solidified a less than perfect rotation.

Best Reliever: Dellin Betances – So this guy has found it big time. All he does is come in and shut people down for 1-2 innings a la Mariano Rivera in 1996.He’s struck out a ridiculous 56 batters to just 9 walks in nearly 33 innings of work.And he’s also electrified the Yankee Stadium crowd much like Joba Chamberlain did when he first made it with the big club. If the 26-year-old is on the mound, you’re not leaving your seat.

Best Hitter: Mark Teixeira – Early in the month we were all thinking that the wrist was healed and Tex was primed. The power was back. He was playing basically everyday. But unfortunately as the month ran down, the wrist became an issue. Inflammation meant missing a few games at the end of the month, and a trip to the surgeon. He was told it was okay, and returned after missing 3 straight games. But in the 6th inning of the game, Teixeira left and is now back to “square one” with the injury. (UPDATE: Teix did make his return on June 3rd against the Athletics. He drove in 2 runs, including a go-ahead solo homer batting right-handed. The issue has been when batting left-handed.)

Biggest Surprise: Chase Whitley. Who? The rookie is a huge reason why the Yankees are still hanging around the top of the American League Division. The 25-year-old righty doesn’t have a win in 4 starts, but he should. His last two performances were worthy of the W, but the pen and offense didn’t help him, leaving him with an 0-0 record and a 2.37 ERA. (Honorable Mention: John Ryan Murphy – the young backstop made us all expand on the J.R. and he started hitting. He doesn’t play often backing up the All-Star McCann, but when he does, boy oh boy is he hitting! In limited action, Murphy is hitting a scorching .348.)

Record vs AL East: 11-9

Overall Record: 29-26 (2nd in the East)

It took a big month from the Toronto Blue Jays and Edwin Encarnacion (16 homers last month), and .500 record to bump the Yankees from 1st to 2nd after May, but considering all the injuries and inconsistency, you’ve gotta be happy to be over .500 for the season.

Jacoby Ellsbury can hit, Carlos Beltran can play everywhere and the injury bug didn’t stay in 2013.

Let’s start on the injury front shall we? They sure popped up early and often in April. Mark Teixiera went down first with a grade 1 hamstring pull, and closer David Robertson quickly followed him onto the 15-day DL with a groin strain. Both came back after the two weeks were up, and have looked good in a small sample size. Then, Derek Jeter missed he final two games of the Red Sox series. And in that final game (a win) against Boston, Francisco Cerveilli ended up on the 60-Day DL with a grade 2 hamstring strain, Brian Roberts went down with a back injury, and not to mention a scare with April revelation Yangervis Solarte. But the biggest loss? It came after a blowout loss against the Tampa Bay Rays. Starter Ivan Nova, who many thought would have a break out season after a strong finish to 2013, is heading for season-ending Tommy John surgery. The young righty has a torn UCL injury, which already claimed all of 2014 for another one of New York’s up-and-coming stars, the Mets Matt Harvey. The month ends with Brett Gardner nursing a sore foot, and Ellsbury has a day-to-day hand issue.

Considering they started the season with 13-straight games (their first two series were in domes), coupled with the injuries, the Bombers should be very happy with their record. It’s only April, and they’ve already changed their fortunes in the AL East. They only won 6 games against Boston last year, yet they’ve already taken down the defending World Champs 6 times in one month of baseball here in 2014! They lead the division early, only lost 2 series the entire month, and are over .500 in the East. Sabathia continues to search for a way to be successful with his new stuff, but one thing about the big guy you can’t take for granted. He gives you length every start. They might not be the sharpest innings late, but he finds a way to not kill your bullpen.

Best Starter: Masahiro Tanaka – That 24-0 last season in Japan does NOT look like a fluke. Sure it’s early, and the league needs time to catch up, but man does Tanaka look like the real deal. Tanaka’s 3-0 to start his MLB career and has a ridiculous 46 strikeouts to just 6 walks in 35.2 innings. His first start got off to a shaky start, giving up a lead-off homer to Toronto’s Melky Cabrera, but he sure settled down. 3-runs in 7 innings. Then he did it again, going a complete 8 in a shut-out win over the Orioles, striking out 10 along the way in his Yankee Stadium debut. And what about his dominance over 8.1 against the Sox in Fenway! He’s been nothing short of dominant. His one bug-a-boo? The long ball. He’s so in the zone, that balls tend to fly out easily. The good thing is they’ve been solo shots for the most part. (Honorable Mention: Michael Pineda – I could’ve easily made him the best with his 2-1 record, minuscule 1.00 ERA coming off two years of arm issues. If Tanaka has been number 1, Pineda has been 1a for the Yankees pitching staff. Too bad this all came to a screaming halt with a 10-game suspension due to pine tar, followed by a lat strain that will sideline him for another 3-4 weeks.)

Best Reliever: Shawn Kelly – Outside a bad outing in a non-save situation, Kelly did a wonderful job sliding into the closer role while Robertson was on the disabled list. Adam Warren has the other save recorded this season, and without the legendary Mariano Rivera closing games, and a big injury to D-Rob, who would’ve thought they’d make it through April without any blown saves? (Honorable Mention: Adam Warren – He’s adjusted to the short reliever role very well.)

Best Hitter: Jacoby Ellsbury – For any Yankees fans that thought liking his former enemy would be hard, you were very wrong. He’s come in and not only torn the ball off the cover, he’s run the bases better than anyone this team has seen since a young Alfonso Soriano was stealing 40 a year. And no, I’m not omitting Brett Gardner here, who has blinding speed, but doesn’t always take advantage of it on the base paths. (Honorable Mention: Carlos Beltran – Power, power, power. He leads the team in HRs, RBIs, OPS and Slugging %. He’s been another great addition to the Yankees outfield and lineup.)

Biggest Surprise: Yangervis Solarte – He spent the first 7 years of his career in the minors. He wasn’t even supposed to make the team! Yet Solarte hit his way onto the team out of spring training, hitting Eduardo Nunez off the team completely. He can and has played every position on the diamond and has done it well. And talk about a doubles-machine! He’s also tied with Beltran for the team lead in RBIs with 13.

Record vs AL East: 10-7

Overall Record: 15-11 (1st in the East)

So that was April. Coming up in May, the Yankees are on the road a lot, including a 3-game series against the Leagues top team, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Bombers also play their cross-town rivals, as well as the Nation League representatives in the World Series last year, the St. Louis Cardinals.

The American League is down to two teams, one of which will represent the league in the World Series.

Detroit Tigers @ Boston Red Sox

Anibel Sanchez (14-8, 2.57 ERA) vs Jon Lester (15-8, 3.75 ERA)

I had the Red Sox advancing on, but I had them doing so in 5 games over the Tampa Bay Rays. But Boston needed one less game to continue their magical run from worst to first, taking their ALDS over their AL East foes 3-games-to-1. Boston clinched quickly, so they, like LA, were able to better set their starting rotation better.

So here they are, in the ALCS for the first time since 2007, also their last World Series win, a 4 game sweep over the Colorado Rockies.

As for their opponents, the Detroit Tigers, needed a full 5 games to take their ALDS match-up with the Oakland A’s. I had this series ending with the A’s in 5, but the Tigers pen held up better than I expected it would.
After a rough season, for him, Justin Verlander continued his postseason dominance over the Athletics, carrying a perfect game into the 7th inning. This time around, the 2012 Cy Young and MVP starter went 8-shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out 10. Verlander knocked Oakland out last season in the ALDS as well.

Miguel Cabrera with the big blow to help send his squad to their 3rd straight ALCS appearance, a 2-run shot in the 1st inning.

Like the Cardinals in the NL, they now have to wait until game 3 to see their ace in the series.

The Tigers and Red Sox played 7 times during the regular season, with Detroit taking the season series 4-3.

And that’s how I think this series will go. A hard-fought, close series. I just think the Tigers are coming together at the right time. I know the Red Sox have been on a high all season, and I won’t be surprised if they win this series in 7, or even less. I just think Verlander, Max Scherzer and Anabel Sanchez are better than the Sox top 3.

Game 1 takes place in Boston Saturday night, first pitch set for 8PM EST at Fenway Park.